My current work in progress:

It’s been dark and dreary and cold and rainy here, so my knitting photos have left a lot to be desired. But here are a couple of sock-in-progress photos.

The top one is the Regia Stretch. It really blends in with the pattern of my couch. Great place to take a photo, eh? I’m at the point where I’m obsessing over whether I’ll have enough yarn to finish a sock with one skein. We’ll see, but I think it’ll be close. If not, I’ll have to order another skein.

The bottom one is the regular Regia Ringel. These are little teeny tiny socks so I know I’ll have enough there.

I’ve been toying with the idea of making a pair of fingerless gloves. This crossed my mind yesterday morning as I stood waiting for the train, my hands numb with cold. It’s tough to knit when your hands are stiff, and it took a little while on the train before they warmed up sufficiently.

I’m thinking I can take a regular glove pattern and just knit up the fingers to about half an inch or less and cast off leaving the opening.

You may have noticed that there’s a new button in my blog sidebar — for Knitting Meetup. Check it out! There’s going to be a meetup in the DC area on November 20. I’d really like to go to this. Right now there are three venues being voted on for the meetup. Two are in DC proper and one is in Alexandria, VA. I voted for Alexandria. While I work in Washington, I’d rather the meetup was in Northern Virginia because (a) it starts at 8:00pm, and (b) I get up at 4:15am on weekdays.

So the bottom line is, if the Alexandria venue wins, I’ll go. Otherwise I’ll have to skip it.

Any other Northern Virginia knitters out there looking for a knitting posse? Register with the Meetup site and vote vote vote! I’d love to have a local Stitch ‘n Bitch group to hang out with. There are some in this area but are in very inconvenient locations for me.

Stash Enhancement

Ooh! Ooh! I got yarn in the mail yesterday! Yep, my sock yarn from Wool Needlework Discounter. What nice people to deal with! They sent samples and some patterns for a vest, a hat, scarves, and a holiday ornament along with my order. Fun!

And speaking of socks . . .

Here is my Regia Stretch sock in progress. The color on this photo is a little truer than yesterday’s photo.

And last but not least . . .

I swatched for Fulmar. Here is my swatch in progress. I got the stitch and row gauge using size 3mm needles (the size called for). I’m going to make the smallest size of Fulmar and I’m using 5-ply guernsey wool.

I’m currently working on two pairs of socks — one in Regia Ringel, one in Regia Stretch, both sock weight yarns. Here’s a photo of the two of them:

The Regia Stretch is on the left, the regular Regia on the right. This is the first time I’ve used the Regia Stretch.

So how do they differ?

I’m knitting both using US size 0 (2mm) needles and the Stretch is a little finer — I’m getting almost 9 stitches to the inch. On the same needles with the regular Regia it’s closer to 8 stitches to the inch. The Stretch has a silkier feeling to it, rather than the more wooly feel of the regular Regia. It’s not unpleasant — as a matter of fact, I rather like it. It’ll work up into a slightly thinner sock.

And of course stretchier.

That’s about it for exciting knitting news. Busy busy day at work yesterday and more than likely another busy one today.

Thanks for all the nice things y’all said about Valtos. Glad you like it!

Oh, one more thing. I have been told by my source that the Fudgie the Whale and the Santa Claus ice cream cake are one and the same. I’m told that they turn the tail up on top to make a hat and simply decorate it differently.

Izzy was being antisocial last night. It’s probably my fault. Earlier she happened upon one of her catnip mice and went bonkers over — acting silly and crazed. Izzy hasn’t given any of her toys a second glance in years. Whenever I present her with a new catnip mouse for Christmas, she sniffs it politely, pokes at it once, and turns away in disdain.

So when she went gaga over a catnip mouse, I committed the unpardonable sin.

I laughed at her.

So she punished me by ignoring me until she was hungry.

I finished Valtos last night. Am I cool or what? I’ve got a crappy photo of it here. By the time I finished sewing it together it was dark and I had to use the flash. But I’ll undoubtedly get a better photo this weekend.

And I started some socks in a green Regia ringel. Photos on Monday . . .

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